USNS Marie Tharp

For other ships with the same name, see USS Maury.

USNS Marie Tharp (T-AGS-66)^[1] is a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship operated by the Military Sealift Command of the United States Navy. The seventh ship in her class, Marie Tharp is named for oceanographer Marie Tharp; the ship was renamed in 2023 from Maury.

USNS Maury on 2 November 2017
History
United States
Name	Maury (2016–2023) Marie Tharp (from 2023)
Namesake	Matthew Fontaine Maury Marie Tharp
Owner	United States Navy
Operator	Military Sealift Command
Awarded	22 December 2009[1]
Builder	VT Halter Marine[1]
Laid down	1 February 2011[1]
Launched	27 March 2013 [2]
In service	February 2016
Identification	IMO number: 9633484 MMSI number: 368880000 Callsign: NMRY
Status	In Service
General characteristics
Class and type	Pathfinder-class survey ship
Displacement	5,000 tons full 3,019 light[1]
Length	353 ft (108 m)[1]
Beam	58 ft (18 m)[1]
Draft	19 ft (5.8 m)[1]

The-then Maury's keel was laid on 1 February 2011 in a ceremony at the VT Halter Marine shipyard in Moss Point, Mississippi.^[3] The hull was launched on 27 March 2013 and the ship was delivered on 16 February 2016.^[4] Maury completed her maiden voyage in June 2016.^[5]

Details

Marie Tharp was the first oceanographic survey ship built since USNS Mary Sears was launched in 2000. At approximately 350 feet (110 m), Marie Tharp is 24 feet (7.3 m) longer than her other sister ships in the same class. This modification is to accommodate a 300-square-foot (28 m²) moon pool for unmanned vehicle deployment and retrieval.^[3]

Name change

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 created a new Naming Commission to examine names across the US armed forces that honor the Confederate States of America, the group of states that attempted to break away from the US during the American Civil War.^[6][7]

In September 2022, the Naming Commission recommended the renaming of Maury and cruiser USS Chancellorsville, with the new names to be decided by the Secretary of the Navy.^[8] Maury was named after military officer and diplomatic envoy Matthew Fontaine Maury, the "Father of Modern Oceanography" who resigned from a 36-year career in the US Navy to accept a command in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.^[9][10][11]

On 8 March 2023, International Women's Day, the US Navy Secretary, Carlos Del Toro, announced the ship would be renamed in honor of oceanographer Marie Tharp, best known for helping produce the first scientific map of the Atlantic Ocean floor.^[12][13][14] The renaming was formally completed in the Naval Vessel Register on 13 March 2023.^[1]